Ryan Gosling’s Show-Stopping Oscars Performance for ‘Barbie’ Reminds Fans of This Missed Opportunity
Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie at the 2024 Oscars will be the moment everyone remembers from the ceremony. It didn’t win Best Original Song even though it was nominated, but the 43-year-old actor cemented his place in Hollywood — he’s a triple threat.
Fans knew he could pull off the show-stopping number because they were well aware that he got his start on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993. However, he’s downplayed his talents compared to his former Disney co-stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake. The truth is that Gosling has always had the chops to pull off a performance as he did on the Dolby Theatre stage on Sunday — and that’s why fans are talking about this missed opportunity during the La La Land award show cycle in 2017.
In 2017, Gosling and Emma Stone opted out of singing live at the Oscars after the song “City of Stars” from La La Land was nominated for Best Original Song. At the time, the media cited that the duo was “more comfortable leaving the live performance aspect of the evening” to their film co-star, John Legend. Of course, Legend is a “seasoned” performer, but after seeing Gosling nail his Barbie number — it was a chance to see his skills on display seven years ago.
Now social media users are wistfully thinking about what could have been had Gosling had the same courage he did in 2024. “the oscars giving us a ryan gosling performance for i’m just ken but not city of stars is really my roman empire,” wrote one account on X. Another person added, “I remember being really upset they got John Legend to perform City of Stars instead of Ryan Gosling at the 2017 Oscars. Feeling vindicated!” And Gosling should breathe a sigh of relief now because he’s been forgiven by one fan holding a long grudge. “I now forgive Ryan Gosling for not performing City of Stars at the Oscars a few years ago. The I’m Just Ken performance at the Oscars was perfection ????????,” they joked.
Gosling’s next big movie is the action/comedy, The Fall Guy, with Emily Blunt in May. It’s already got a big buzz in Hollywood, so the Oscar nominee could find himself in that super elite A-list club that rarely has an opening — think Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep level of fame. If this movie opens big, Gosling will be writing his own ticket to the movies he wants to make because he is Kenough.
Before you go, click here to see all the best arrivals at the 2024 Oscars.